Washing machine with at least two horizontal drums



y 1962 J. ROTHENBERGER 3,035,430

WASHING MACHINE WITH AT LEAST TWO HORIZONTAL DRUMS Filed March 25, 1958 INVENTOR. Ja Ifoj f f-kepwer fil ed-f i u'vk United States Patent filice dfiddfidd Patented Riley 22, 1962 3,035,430 WASHING MACHINE WITH AT LEAST TWO HORIZONTAL DRUMS Jakob Rothenberger, 49 Kronleinstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland Filed Mar. 25, 1953, Ser. No. 723,730 Claims priority, application Switzerland Mar. 26, 1957 4 (Ilaims. (Cl. 68-27) perforated drums, in which the suds are transferred from one drum to the next by rising scoops and through a central passage. One of the important disadvantages of this design resides in the fact that the rinsing cycle is comparatively long, which limits the number of charges per day. This is due to the fact that the rate of transfer of the liquid from one drum to the next by means of scoops must be adjusted to the washing process and that no substantially larger volume can. be transferred. Apart from the complex and expensive design of the machine, experience has shown that it is diflicult to obtain a seal around the shaft and the inlet openings since the gaskets so far known can withstand the effects of the hot suds only for a short time so that costly and complicated repair work is constantly called for in connection with which it is necessary largely to dismantle the machine esg. for replacing the bearing sealing members.

Furthermore washing machines are known which are equipped with a plurality of drums arranged co-axially in respect of one another and which are subdivided into completely separate suds chambers by means of partitions. These chambers are not interconnected and the partitions are designed to support the shaft journals. This design, however, has the same effect as two separate washing machines placed side by side without enabling a superior utilization of the heat or suds.

The present invention has for its object to eliminate these disadvantages and it consists in that the partition is designed as a damming wall which subdivides the shell into two suds chambers below the axis of rotation and that the suds pass from one chamber to the next due to a drop in the level, the level of the liquid in the chamber provided with the fresh-Water supply being highest.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the attached drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a washing machine according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of a washing machine slightly modified over that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section of a detail of the waslung machine according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 shows a washing machine with a horizontal axis of rotation 1 on which two drums or baskets 2, 3 are arranged coaxially relative to one another. These drums have their periphery equipped with two hinged doors (not visible in the drawing) through which the clothes can be inserted and removed. These drums rotate about the axis of rotation l in a stationary container 7 which has its front equipped with a fresh-water supply line 4. Provided at the opposite side of the shell or housing is an open overflow designed to drain the soiled suds. The

drums 2 and 3 have their periphery provided with perforations 6 so that the suds can freely circulate between the interior of the drums and the shell, an intensive circulation being obtained so that the suds come into intimate contact with the clothes. In other to improve circulation of the liquid, it is advisable to provide the end faces of the drums with perforation as well. The drums are of the same diameter but advantageously of different lengths, the drum with the higher suds level being longer than the other. Arranged between the drum 2 and drum 3 is a partition 8 which extends over the entire width of the shell and which has a height less than one-half the diameter of the shell. Wall 8 separates the shell into two suds chambers which are consecutively passed through by the water supplied. The water supplied through the suply line 4 first collects in the right-hand chamber of the housing until the level H corresponding to the height of the partition has been reached, and then flows over the partition 8, which latter serves as a damming wall and thus operates as an overflow, into the right-hand chamber of the outer housing. Here the liquid level rises to the height of the overflow 5, i.e. to the level H There is a drop between level H and H the level being reduced in the direction of the suds transfer.

Another variant of such a washing machine is represented in F168. 2 and 3. Here the partition 8 projects beyond the normal level 1-1 of the suds. The left-hand suds chamber communicates with the right-hand chamber via one or more pipes 59 which bridge or by-pass the partition 8. if a plurality of such pipes 9 are present, they are arranged at different levels one above the other and so designed that they can be closed individually by a Valve it). in this way, the lowest open pipe determines the suds level in the preceding chamber so that the liquid level in the right-hand chamber will vary depending on which valves are open and closed and can thereby be adapted to the type of clothes handled. These Valves may be operated by hand or may be automatically controlled by control members, such as on an electric timer.

A further variant has a partition 8 which projects beyond the suds level H normally provided and has openings arranged at the height of the predetermined suds level through which the suds may flow from one chamber into the nex In this embodiment it would be possible to arrange openings at different heights in the partition, which could be mechanically closed by slides so that the suds level may be set at different heights since it will naturally drop to the level of the lowermost opening which is unobstructed.

in order to raise the height of the suds level during rinsing, it is possible for the cross-section of the passage in the partition to be adjusted to a lesser volume transferred during the washing cycle and that the level H rises to the overflow level of the partition owing to the increased fresh-water supply during the wetting and rinsing cycles.

In order to extend the passage of the water so as to improve utilization of heat and the suds, the washing machine may also be designed so that the water follows a zigzag course during its passage. This is achieved, in the embodiment according to Figs 2 and 3, by arranging the fresh-water supply and the outlet for the soiled suds on one side of an assumed vertical plane through the drum shaft 1, and the pipes 9 and the openings in the partition respectively on the other side.

The design disclosed has the advantage over heretofore known machines having similar characteristics, that its manufacture is considerably simpler and therefore correspondingly less costly. In particular, no drum and and bearing seals that often necessitate repairs are required. A further advantage of the present washing machine resides in the fact that it is possible to wash whites and coloured clothes or clothes of a very different degree of soiling at the same time. The whites or less dirty clothes are placed in the first drum at the right-hand side to which fresh water is supplied, and washed at about 90 C. in the second drum at the left-hand side, the same suds are used to wash the coloured or more strongly soiled clothes. Owing to the dissipation of heat and the cold clothes placed in the drum, the temperature of the suds in this second drum will drop to approximately 70 3. Moreover the utilization of the suds and of the heat is improved thanks to the possibility of extending the path of transfer of the liquid. The marked acceleration of the rinsing cycle is of particular importance as well since the water volume transferred is limited only by the crosssection of the fresh-water supply line and of the outlet for the soiled suds, but not by obstacles of a structural nature that have a limited capacity or passage. This characteristic enables rinsing to be performed with a substantially langer quantity of water than used in washing which results in a substantial reduction of the time during which the clothes remain in the drum while the washing effect is the same. Tests have revealed that the combined washing and rinsing times in a machine of the design according to this invention can be reduced by 30 to 50% over heretofore known washing machines, which is of considerable importance in respect of the costs incurred in laundering establishments.

It would naturally also be possible to arrange more than two drums in line and to provide a partition between adjacent drums. The height of the suds level would then, of course, be reduced from one drum to the next.

The partition wall 8 may also be designed so that it separates the shell into two entirely closed chambers.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a washing machine having a stationary housing with a bottom and with two end faces: at least two serially arranged rotatable baskets coaxially mounted within said housing and rotatable about a horizontal axis of rotation, said baskets being perforated for the passage of liquid therethrough, each of said baskets confining a single compartment only for receiving laundry and washing liquid, a partition extending upwardly from the bottom of the housing between each two adjacent baskets and terminating below the axis of rotation of said baskets, said partition dividing said housing into chambers and forming a damming up wall and serving as overflow between the chambers, said housing extending upwardly a substantial distance beyond the top of said partition, liquid inlet means in one end portion of said housing for supplying liquid to one of said chambers, liquid outlet means in the other end portion of said housing for discharge of liquid from another of said chambers, said liquid outlet means being at a level lower than the liquid level in said one chamber so that the flow of liquid through said chamber in axial direction thereof will occur from said liquid inlet means to said liquid outlet means by gravity flow only, each said partition determining the liquid level in the respective preceding chamber when looking in the direction of fiow of liquid from the liquid inlet means to said liquid outlet means, the liquid levels in successive chambers proceeding from the inlet means to the outlet means being progressively lower, said liquid outlet discharging liquid from the last of said serially arranged chambers at the same rate as it is supplied to the first of said serially arranged chambers whereby to maintain the said liquid levels in the successive chambers substantially uniform during a washing operation.

2. In a washing machine having a stationary housing with a bottom and with two end faces: two serially arranged rotatable baskets coaxially mounted within said housing and rotatable about a horizontal axis of rotation, said baskets being perforated for the passage of liquid therethrough, each of said baskets confining a single compartment only for receiving laundry and washing liquid, a partition arranged between said two baskets and terminating below the axis of rotation of said baskets and between the two chambers formed thereby serving as overflow, said housing extending upwardly a substantial distance beyond the top of said partition, liquid inlet means in one end portion of said housing, liquid outlet means in the other end portion of said housing for discharge of liquid from another chamber, said liquid outlet means being at a level lower than the liquid level in said one chamber so that the flow of liquid through said chambers in axial direction thereof will occur from said liquid inlet means to said liquid outlet means by gravity flow only, said first mentioned basket having an axial length considerably greater than the axial length of said last mentioned basket, said partition determining the liquid level in said first mentioned basket, the liquid level in the chambers decreasing progressively from the inlet means to the outlet means, said liquid outlet discharging liquid from the last of said serially arranged chambers at the same rate as it is supplied to the first of said serially arranged chambers whereby to maintain the said liquid levels in the successive chambers substantially uniform during a washing operation.

3. A washing machine according to claim 2, in which said liquid inlet means and liquid outlet means are respectively arranged in the end faces of said housing.

4. In a washing machine having a stationary housing with a bottom and with two end faces: at least two serially arranged rotatable baskets coaxially mounted within said housing and rotatable about a horizontal axis of rotation, said baskets being perforated for the passage of liquid therethrough, each of said baskets confining a single compartment only for receiving laundry and washing liquid, a partition extending upwardly from the bottom of the housing between each two adjacent baskets and having an overflow edge below the axis of rotation of said baskets, said partition dividing said housing into chambers and forming a damming-up wall with said overflow edge of said partition serving as overflow between the chambers, said housing extending upwardly a substantial distance beyond the top of said partition, liquid inlet means in one end portion of said housing for supplying liquid to one of said chambers, liquid outlet means in the other end portion of said housing for discharge of liquid from another of said chambers, said liquid outlet means being at a level lower than the liquid level in said one chamber so that the How of liquid through said chamber in axial direction thereof will occur from said liquid inlet means to said liquid outlet means by gravity flow only, each said partition by means of its said overflow edge determining the liquid level in the respective preceding chamber when looking in the direction of fiow of liquid from the liquid inlet means to said liquid outlet means, the liquid levels in successive chambers proceeding from the inlet means to the outlet means being progressively lower, said liquid outlet discharging liquid from the last of said serially arranged chambers at the same rate as it is supplied to the first of said serially arranged chambers whereby to maintain the said liquid levels in the successive chambers substantially uniform during a washing operation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,434,595 Davis Nov. 7, 1922 1,854,485 Rceps Apr. 19, 1932 2,846,862 Morrill Aug. 12, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,116,999 France Feb. 13, 1956 

